About this project

The night is young and Spoceany, filled with mustachioed gnomes and possibilities. You survey the mighty vessels around you, knowing full well that the choices you make on these docks could easily mean the difference between glorious victory and crushing defeat in the battle soon to come.

Will your team choose speed over firepower and keep to the smaller ships? Or will you distribute the fleet more evenly, opting for an elegant formation that maintains a DREAGLE-class flagship at the center of your maneuvers? How should the players be distributed? Will this strategy make you vulnerable to unorthodox boarding tactics? What kind of fleet will the other team choose?

Think fast, because the game starts in 25 seconds.

The fleet is chosen, the stage is set, and your ship is waiting for a leader. Will you take the helm? In most cases you'd be happy to find an open cannon and wait for further orders. But today you're surrounded by n00bs. You're pretty sure that "Mr.Bojangles7" doesn't even know how to load a cannon. It's time to step up and steer the ship.

As captain, it's your duty to maintain an overall tactical awareness of the field, ensuring that you never needlessly isolate yourself from the greater force, and that you provide your gunners with plenty of opportunities to pummel enemy ships with devastating broadsides.

Above all, keep an eye out for enemy ships that are ripe for the taking. Victory is ultimately awarded to the team that controls all the ships.

Loading cannons and firing shot into the hulls of enemy ships is one of the unique joys of Spocean. It should come as no surprise, then, that receiving fire in return is also one of its unique horrors. This is the stuff that you won't find anywhere else-- a willingness to simply indulge in the experience of overwhelming chaos in a confined, claustrophobic space. The panic as you struggle to get the engines back online, the ecstasy when you realize that your last shot knocked out the enemy ship's helm...

And then suddenly, looking out the starboard side, you realize that an entirely new brand of chaos is headed straight for you at ramming speed.

Here the mysterious opponent is revealed in its true form: a desperate crew, not unlike your own, betting their lives on the assumption that their latest broadside was enough to drain your fighting spirit and your big green health bars.

They were wrong. Your spirit is unmoved and your health is full, thanks to Mr.Bojangles7 (who has proven to be an apt pupil) , and the Spocean gloves are ready for some knockouts.

The melee is a blur of frantic cries and confusion, but when the smoke finally clears you notice that the banners on the walls are still yours. The boarders have been repelled! And since they emptied their own ship in their attempt to take yours, Your fleet has suddenly gained a fine DAERTAESH-class vessel.

Who will join you on the prize crew?

Mr.Bojangles7's voice suddenly crackles in over your Teamspeak channel (he's a total pro now) and the decision is made. A new ship, a new crew...

A new team-based multiplayer experience!

Where We Are

We have a playable alpha right now. We're new developers, we've got an unconventional game, and it has its share of bugs, but we're confident that you'll see the potential when you try it for yourself. You can find the links to our PC version, Mac version, and dedicated server utility on our website here: http://www.spocean.net/

It's worth pointing out that the current build has only one ship class: the lumbering (but lethal) DREAGLE. As a result, the current gameplay is considerably less dynamic than we envision it to eventually be once we have varieties of smaller, faster ships mixing things up and introducing rock,paper,scissors type tactics.

You will also notice that players never die, and can crawl and heal each other when they're down. This is pretty cool, except for the fact that there's currently no mechanism to truly get them out of your hair after you've captured their ship. In future builds, we will implement mechanisms to incapacitate them further. For the moment, you'll need to assign some of your prize crew as prison guards to ensure that they don't pop up and take the ship back.

Our Vision

The goal is to eventually have more ship types, shot types, shotguns, melee weapons, and new game modes that can fully explore the unique possibilities of this new crew-based, ship-to-ship gameplay. We also plan to support at least 40 players on a server with 6-8 ships on each side.

Why We Need Your Help

There are only two of us, and as you can see from our screenshots and gameplay footage, we are striving to not only make this game mechanically satisfying, but also artistically immersive. The extent to which we are able to polish and fulfill our vision is extremely dependent on this campaign. Game server costs, web hosting, software, hardware upgrades, engine licenses, art assets and sound add up to quite a bit, not to mention food and rent.

The Future

This isn't a theoretical concept that we'd sort of like to pursue if people gave us money. We've worked like crazy people for the past three months in order to get to the point we're at now, and with your support, we will continue to work like crazy people until it's done. And we plan to have it done in February, with support continuing for as long as there is interest.

Rewards!

Our favorite reward to give you is our eternal gratitude for putting your faith in us, and that comes with all backing tiers. If you give $10, you get access to future alpha builds, which we will start releasing frequently and exclusively late November. And you get a digital copy of the finished game!

I'd say that the $15 option is definitely worth the extra, though, considering that we've got an incredible composer on board (in case you were wondering, the music in our video is temporary, and not indicative of the final score).

If you appreciate whimsy in general, or generally whimsical things, the $50 hand-drawn spoceanfarer doodle is a must have. Remember, no two doodles are alike!

The venerable ship naming tiers are fairly straightforward. $75 for a Skargler, $100 for a Daertaesh, and $150 for a Dreagle. Anniversary coming up? Can't afford a diamond? A sweetheart's name on a ship is just as timeless. Or maybe you just really enjoy the concept of a horse crossed with a centipede. "Centihorse" is a great name for a Daertaesh. We'll pretty much accept anything as long as it's not offensive, and that it is generally pronounceable by the human mouth.

There are only two admirals, and there will only ever be two admirals. $1000 for this coveted honor. As stated, the admirals get their whimsical caricature hung on every ship of their respective team that's ever spawned in the Spocean. Additionally, spoceanfarers who see admirals outside of the Spocean (identifiable as they will be by their one of a kind admiral t-shirt) are encouraged to pay their respects to said admiral.

Thanks!

Thank you for your time and your interest in Spocean. If you're still not convinced, why not give it a shot? You can try it for free! If nothing else, we guarantee that it will be a very novel experience.

Risks and challenges

There are plenty of interesting bugs in this initial release: a few that immediately come to mind are that servers need to be restarted a couple times a day to stay healthy, captains sometimes have difficulties leaving the captain's view, and the game browser doesn't always display the ping of listed servers.

We hope you'll understand that these kinds of problems are simply part of any game's development, especially at this early stage. The show-stopping technical hurdles have already been overcome. Barring acts of Cthulhu or Sauron, this game will be completed.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

You receive: all of the above, plus the privilege of naming a SKARGLER-class Spocean vessel! These nimble, single-cannon vessels are the fastest ships in the fleet. Ship names are randomly drawn from a list when they are spawned. Your chosen name is on this limited list!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

You receive: alpha access, a digital download of the finished game, the soundtrack, a unique thank you doodle, plus the privilege of naming a DAERTAESH-class Spocean vessel! A Daertaesh can hold its own in any situation-- maneuverability for a hasty retreat, four deadly guns for a lethal attack. Ship names are randomly drawn from a list when they are spawned. Your chosen name is on this limited list!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $150 or more
About $150

You receive: alpha access, a digital download of the finished game, the soundtrack, a unique thank you doodle, plus the privilege of naming a DREAGLE-class Spocean vessel! There are only twenty Dreagles that roam the Spocean. Unstoppable. Overwhelming. Large. Ship names are randomly drawn from a list when they are spawned. Your chosen name is on this limited list!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

You receive: alpha access, a digital download of the finished game, the soundtrack, a unique thank you doodle, and by the way, YOU are the BLUE Admiral! Your commanding portrait will adorn all blue ships, caricatured in true Spocean fashion. A small creature of your choosing may accompany you in the frame. You will also receive the only t-shirt in existence that officially recognizes the wearer, you, as the true blue admiral of the Spocean.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $1,000 or more
About $1,000

You receive: alpha access, a digital download of the finished game, the soundtrack, a unique thank you doodle, and yes, that is correct: YOU are the MAIZE Admiral! Your commanding portrait will adorn all maize ships, caricatured in true Spocean fashion. A small creature of your choosing may accompany you in the frame. You will also receive the only t-shirt in existence that officially recognizes the wearer, you, as the true maize admiral of the Spocean.